jurjan

I'm dutch, and I'm flabbergasted at this question.
Do you tip the person at the checkout where you buy your food?
Do you tip your doctor?
I always understood that in the USA waitesses etc. where underpayed so they would depend on tips to earn a decent living.
What other category of people should I remember to tip?

Cyclist0383

I'm in Latvia, and I give my mechanic a bottle of brandy at Christmas time. But then again he goes above and beyond to help me out through the year. He does stuff such as open up the shop on a day off in order to build me a wheel when my rim exploded. I think that's worth a gesture of thanks.

wahoonc

Here is my tip list:

Food servers, they are only paid a small fraction of the hourly wage and have to make it up through tips.
Hotel Staff: Bell hops and house keeping (if they do a better than normal job)
Hair cut/stylist: I usually have my hair cut at home so I am not too sure about this one.
Taxi Driver/Car Service Driver: Especially if they help with the luggage and are personable.

Everywhere I go these days I seem to see tip jars on counters. I am not prone to put money in those. If you wait on me at a counter you are doing your job, not a special service.

As I pointed out earlier when it comes to my LBS mechanic, beer, bottle of wine, or pizza for everybody.

Aaron

Chris L

I don't tip because I think the process is evil and is a cancer on society. When I get some work done on my bike by my LBS, I generally call them in advance and make a booking to have the work done. It gives them time to schedule whatever else they need to do that day around it. People who give me good service will get return business from me anyway, (and probably a recommendation to anyone who asks my opinion on where they should go), so that's more than sufficient.

I suppose if I was in an emergency somewhere and had to have some work done immediately, I might pay a slight premium to get myself prioritised at the last minute. I wouldn't consider that a tip, however, because I'd agree on the amount up front.

NoGaBiker

Well, if we're being pedantic (and who can resist?) it's not an acronym unless we pronounce it "opp." If we pronounce it "Oh-pee" it is an initialism, like FBI or LHT.

There, that wasn't so painful, was it?

Connell

In the movie "The Petrified Forest", made in 1936, there's a small sign behind the counter of the diner which states:

"Please do not tip. It is un-American."

I wonder...at what point did tipping go from being un-American to virtually expected for anyone whose job requires them to provides a service to a customer?

I do tip waitstaff, because of the whole paid-less-than-minimum-wage thing, but I bitterly resent it. In my opinion the employer is responsible for the employees wages, not the customer. I don't tip bank clerks, I don't tip flight attendants, I don't add 15% on to the total when I pay my electric bill and I sure as hell don't put money in a tip jar for someone whose job consists of handing me an item and ringing up my change.

vik 

I drop off cold beers at my LBS for the mechanics when I've had good service. I also make sure to thank them specifically when they've done a great job. I'll over pay for minor repairs/supplies [leave a $20 for an $8 charge] if they take care of me fast or go out of their way on a busy day to get me back on my bike. You certainly don't have to, but it's not like these guys are getting rich working on bikes and when you show up on a busy Saturday AM with a problem you need solved it's nice to get put at the front of line and be out riding while the rest of the folks wait 3 days to get their bikes repaired.

At the end of the day a top notch LBS is worth a lot to me and I'm happy to show some appreciation...

Connell

I suppose I should add a bit to my grumpy rant from a few minutes ago. Yes, if someone goes over and above the call of duty, then I will tip them for that. A bike mechanic helping me out when I'm stuck would fall into that category.

But I do resent the assumption that I should tip someone just for doing their job.

jurjan

Vik,
I'm not trying to say anything wrong or mean at you, but WHY WOULD YOU EXPECT to get pushed to the front of the queue?

Just because you've overpaid them MASSIVELY (more than TWICE the amount asked) before?

I imagine I would NEVER, EVER shop there again.
In my (not so humble) opinion perhaps that's NOT the way customer service should work.

But perhaps I'm being very European again.

vik 

Well I don't expect or demand to be put at the front of the queue, but I like it when it happens and my experience tells me that by expressing your appreciation [both verbally and through $$$ via a tip or beer] and getting to know the folks at the shop [I'll chat with them about their bikes and talk about what I'm up to] that the result is preferential treatment.

At most of the LBS I use I know everyone by name...at one shop close to where I live I'll pop over and eat lunch with the lads.

Secondly it's not like I'm pushing you out of the way physically at the cash register to get taken care of first. I'll just take my wheel in to the service area and chat with someone about getting it trued for my ride today and if I'm lucky they'll just sort it out and hand it back to me then go back to another bike. If you owned the other bike you'll never know it's happening and you won't be pissed off.

If the idea that this sort of thing goes on makes you mad I can pretty much assure you that any business you deal with has something similar going on behind the scenes. If you want you are free to take advantage of the same process and get better service yourself.

I should also point out that I'm not dropping off envelopes with $100's in it as a tip...paying $20 for an $8 service if it gets you back on the road at a critical moment [ie. on the way to work] isn't out of line and when I come back to buy a set of tires for $200 and get a discount as a good customer so I pay $160 I'm still ahead $28. And that's the bottom line...it's not really about the money it's about building a relationship with folks you rely on.

Finally I have a Swiss passport and I can assure you this is not a North American thing...